Sunday, September 20, 2009

Leading billion-yen woman Yuri Fudoh by a single shot heading into the final round of the Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic, Sakura Yokomine rose to the challenge early in the final round, with 5 birdies in her 1st 11 holes. At -18 for the tournament at that point, she held a 3-stroke lead on Maiko Wakabayashi, who had fired a 33 on the front, and Fudoh, who had settled for a 34. But Yokomine wouldn't make a birdie the rest of the way and after her top competitors both birdied the par-5 12th and Yokomine bogeyed the par-5 15th, her lead was down to 1 on Wakabayashi and 2 on Fudoh. A Fudoh birdie on the short par-4 17th meant that Yokomine was only 1-up with 1 to play on both rivals. But she and Fudoh traded pars on the 367-yard par-4 18th, while Wakabayashi doubled it. Kyodo news won't allow access to the full story and the Full Metal Archivist is still asleep, so I don't have the play-by-play for you. But here are the final results for the top 10 and notables: